{"id":11761,"date":"2006-02-01T11:01:47","date_gmt":"2006-02-01T15:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/?p=11761"},"modified":"2017-11-15T12:58:57","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T16:58:57","slug":"what-we-all-owe-william-j-seymour-by-b-b-robinson-ph-d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2006\/02\/01\/what-we-all-owe-william-j-seymour-by-b-b-robinson-ph-d\/","title":{"rendered":"What We All Owe William J. Seymour, by B.B. Robinson, Ph.D."},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout black American history, religious leaders have played an influential role.\u00a0 We are familiar with the names of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Fred Shuttlesworth and Hiram Revels, but what about William J. Seymour?<\/span><\/p>\n

A largely unsung hero, Seymour is a founder of the Pentecostal Movement.\u00a0 His Azusa Street Revival had long-reaching influences on the black community and religion in general.\u00a0 His accomplishments deserve recognition both during Black History Month and throughout the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

They especially deserve notice and praise this year, as the Azusa Street Revival \u2014 the pinnacle of Seymour\u2019s achievements \u2014 celebrates its centennial.<\/span><\/p>\n

William J. Seymour was born on May 2, 1870 in Centerville, Louisiana.\u00a0 He developed a strong religious fervor in his youth that was rooted in his intense Baptist upbringing.<\/span><\/p>\n

By 1905, Seymour learned of a new, groundbreaking religious theology \u2014 Pentecostalism \u2014 that was being taught by Charles F. Parham in Houston, Texas.\u00a0 Parham was an early proponent of the Apostolic\/Pentecostal Theology.\u00a0 Seymour had to listen to Parham from an adjoining room at the time because, as a black American, Seymour could not be physically located with whites in a learning environment.\u00a0 Despite this disadvantage, Seymour did not allow racial barriers to stop him from learning how to spread the word of God through the Pentecostal Movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seymour moved to Los Angeles, California in 1906 to further pursue this new Pentecostal theology.\u00a0 In April of that same year, after much controversy over the formation of his own following, he initiated a religious revival on Azusa Street in an old AME church that had recently been used as a livery stable.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The Azusa Street Revival, as it was called, was sparked by the \u201coutpouring of the Holy Spirit\u201d when several of Seymour\u2019s followers experienced glossolalia.\u00a0 In layman\u2019s terms, glossolalia is called \u201cspeaking in other tongues.\u201d\u00a0 It described in the Biblical New Testament<\/em> book of Acts<\/em>, 2:1-4.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The Azusa Street Revival lasted three years and consisted of three religious services each day.\u00a0 The Revival was the takeoff for the Pentecostal Movement that still exists today.\u00a0 Pentecostals now represent the fastest-growing Christian movement in the United States and the world.\u00a0 It\u2019s particularly strong in Africa, where 41.1 million people consider themselves devotees of Pentecostalism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although there is considerable controversy over whether Seymour or Parham should receive more credit for the actual founding of Pentecostalism in the United States, there is no doubt that Seymour originated the Azusa Street Revival.\u00a0 The Revival is recognized as being directly responsible for the rise and rapid growth of the Pentecostal Movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

The story of William J. Seymour\u2019s accomplishments has never ended.\u00a0 Seymour and Pentecostalism have motivated and nourished many social and cultural changes over the last 100 years.\u00a0 Some of the most important of those social and cultural developments include:<\/span><\/p>\n